Australia claims that Japan's whaling programme violates the international ban on commercial whaling and has submitted a case against Japan at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

On Monday May 9, 2011 Australia submitted evidence to the Court to back its claim that Japan violates international law. This time-limit was set by the ICJ in an order on July 13, 2010.

Australia instituted proceedings against Japan on May 31, 2010. The Australian government claims that Japan breaches the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling as well as the commercial ban on whaling.

Japan asserts that its whaling programme falls within the legal exception provided for in the Convention because the whalehunt is for scientific research and is on a small scale. The time-limit set for Japan to file its counter-arguments is March 9, 2012.

The International Court of Justice and its proceedings

The International Court of Justice in The Hague is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The Court’s role is inter alia to settle legal disputes submitted between States.

Time-limits for the written pleadings are fixed by the Court in agreement with the parties. Therefore, a case can sometimes take up to 10 years, e.g. Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions (Qatar v. Bahrain), or a swift decision can be given within 24 hours by the Court at the request of one of the parties to the case, e.g. in the LaGrand-case (Germany v. United States of America).

If necessary the applicant, who started the proceedings, can ask for a second round of written proceedings. Both parties can request an extension of the time-limits.

Written proceedings remain confidential until the oral proceedings start. After the written proceedings of both parties have been filed, time-limits are set for the oral proceedings.